If—

 

By  Rudyard Kipling

 

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

HT: Language

Beautiful Symbolism Quote

“He was touched in the cavity where his heart should have been – in that nest of addled eggs, where the birds of Heaven would have lived if they had not been whistled away – by the fervour of this reproach,” (Dickens 225-6).

I thought that this quote was really meaningful because of the symbolism that it presents. The fact that the heart is being symbolized by the "birds of Heaven" is really cool because it makes the heart sound like a gorgeous place "to live". I think thats really important since the whole book is about living through both your heart and your mind.

HT: Language

Interesting Voice:

“Dear reader! It rests with you and me, whether, in our two fields of action, similar things shall be or not. Let them be! We shall sit with lighter bosoms on the hearth, to see the ashes of our fires turn grey and cold,” (Dickens 288).

I believe that this quote is really awesome because the narrator ends the book by directly referring to the reader. It also kind of sums up the message of the whole book by comparing the light and fire to grey and cold. Everything in this last quote brings together a lot of the metaphors that have been consistently represented throughout the book, and I think that is really cool.

HT: Language

Quote With An Awesome Characterization of Louisa

“Upon a nature long accustomed to self-suppression, thus torn and divided, the Harthouse philosophy came as a relief and justification. Everything being hollow and worthless, she had missed nothing and sacrificed nothing. What did it matter, she had said to her father, when he proposed her husband. What did it matter, she said still. With a scornful self-reliance, she asked herself, What did anything matter - and went on,” (Dickens 163)

I thought this quote really represented Louisa's attitude as she grew up in the Gradgrind household. After the circus incident she seemed to take on this attitude of "what did it matter" anymore. It also shows that because nothing matters in life, she hasn't really done anything of importance with her life. I think that the words that describe Louisa in this quote - "self-suppression", "torn", "divided", "hollow", "worthless", and "sacrifice" - really capture the inability for the Gradgrindian system to provide happiness.

HT: Language

“A blur of soot and smoke, now confusedly tending this way, now that way, now aspiring to the vault of Heaven, now murkily creeping along the earth, as the wind rose and fell, or changed its quarter: a dense formless jumble, with sheets of light in it, that showed nothing but masses of darkness: - Coketown in the distance was suggestive of itself, though not a brick of it could be seen,” (Dickens 111)

HT: Language

“It seemed as if, first in her own fire within the house, and then in the fiery haze without, she tried to discover what kind of woof Old Time, that greatest and longest established Spinner of all, would weave from the threads he had already spun into a woman,” (Dickens 95).

HT: Perspectives

Hard Times Connection to Aladdin

I think the movie Aladdin can be connected to Hard Times for a few reasons. First of all, we see socioeconomic divisions between Aladdin and Jasmine. However, in the movie, the two end up falling in love and we see a cross between people of different class. This is different than Hard Times because everyone stays within their own class, with the exception of Sissy because she gets to be "a part" of the Gradgrind family.

Also, there are character similarities between Bounderby and Jafar. They are both in a position of power and influence, Bounderby as a banker and owner of the factory and Jafar as the sultan's second hand. Both characters are very conceited and self-centered and they both end up in a game of lies. Bounderby lies about his status as a "self-made man" and Jafar by trying to manipulate the sultan.

HT: Perspectives

Connection of Hard Times to Demons

The song Demons, by Imagine Dragons can be connected to a few characters in Hard Times. The song is about how the narrator has a past that haunts him thus, the "demons". He wants to protect those around him from his past life - "I want to shelter you" - but he also wants  to be able to move on and he is asking for help - "I can't escape this now, unless you show me how".

This message can definitely be applied to Sissy at the beginning of the book because her mind set is against everyone else's, and she tries so hard to get rid of her past ways and join the Gradgrindian society.

Also, this song can be applied to Louisa because she just sits and observes time and is obedient to everyone as she watches the sparks turn to ashes in her fireplace. Her "demons" are the fact that she oppresses herself from being heard, and she really needs Sissy to help her change from the Gradgrindian society after she breaks down in front of her father.

The last character I think this song can be applied to is Tom because his "demons" are his gambling, drinking, and horrible morals. He needs Louisa's love to get rid of these "demons" which he realizes at the end when he dies trying to get home to her.

HT: Discussion Question

What is the personality and beliefs of the narrator based on his style of speaking and descriptions?

HT: Discussion Question

How does the narrator’s views contrast with those of the inhabitants of Coketown? (In what way does the narrator either favor the plight of the “Hands,” or agree with the fact-based, monotony of the governor Gradgrind, Bounderby, and the upper class characters like Louisa and Harthouse?)

HT: Discussion Question

The narration has many of the same techniques throughout the book (lists, repetition, etc...). What are some of the techniques he uses and how do they add to the story? Why are they so important to the narration? AND what do they say about the narrator and the characters?

HT: Discussion Question

The narrator in a book often has a bias that adds to the the text. What attitude does the narrator take towards the different characters, and Coketown itself (sympathize, mock, etc…)?

HT: Analysis

“It is a dangerous thing to see anything in the sphere of a vain blusterer, before the vain blusterer sees it himself...In virtue thereof, it had become her habit to assume a woeful look; which woeful look she now bestowed upon her patron.” (Dickens 283)

Analysis: The start to the very last chapter of the book is important to the characterization of Mr. Bounderby and also Mrs. Sparsit. The narrator takes on a very negative view towards Mr. Bounderby because the passage starts with the narrator describing Bounderby as a “vain blusterer”. The narrators negative bias towards Mr. Bounderby builds throughout the book by characterizing him. By this point the narrator just outrightly insults Bounderby by calling him a “vain blusterer”. It is important to know that Bounderby has fallen in status slightly because he has lied about his upbringing. The narrator takes on this negative voice towards Mr. Bounderby because it helps convey the failure of the system that Mr. Bounderby has worked so hard to retain: the world of facts. 
   
The narrator also characterizes Mrs. Sparsit in this passage. She is conveyed as someone who takes advantage of Mr. Bounderby by flattering him. The narrator makes it well known that Mrs. Sparsit was behind the “triumphant discovery of Mrs. Pegler”, which shows how she was proud of bringing Bounderby down a notch, but also how he underestimates her intelligence. She clearly outwits him here, however, she “covered her pity” for Bounderby and instead assumed a “woeful look” when he was near. Thus, she is using her high position to manipulate him for what she wants.
   
The importance of the narrator and his characterizations in this passage is that Bounderby wants to punish Mrs. Sparsit for bringing out the truth of his past. The narrator uses the bias against Bounderby to make him look even more evil. By kicking out Mrs. Sparsit it would be “the utmost possible amount of crowning glory” for Bounderby while also punishing Mrs. Sparsit “according to her deserts”. The narrator makes Bounderby look like the bad guy because he is finding “glory” from punishing an old woman who only found a way for the truth to be told. It was he who had done wrong not her. Yet, he will find satisfaction out of punishing her.

This narration at the very end of the book proves to be very important because it
is further showing the downfall of the Gradgrind and Bounderby society of facts. The plotting and lying that is portrayed as greedy and sly throughout this narration shows the final fall of those who still belonged to the world of fact. It also is a passage that shows that Bounderby and Mrs. Sparsit are stuck in a world of deceit which is important because it shows that “their world” isn’t as perfect as everyone believes it to be.

HT: Analysis

"The Sunday was a bright Sunday in autumn, clear and cool, when early in the morning Sissy and Rachel met, to walk in the country...They had seen no one, near or distant, for a long time; and the solitude remained unbroken.” (Dickens 256-7)
   
Analysis: At this point in book three, Stephen Blackpool hasn’t shown up in Coketown to clear his name because he was accused in the bank robbery. Rachel, Stephen’s good friend in Coketown, is overly concerned for Stephen because he was the most honest man that she knew. This brought Sissy and Rachel together. This passage of narration is extremely important to the third book because it is the only time when the dreariness of Coketown is not being exaggerated and repeated.

This is the only passage in the book where a scene is described as “bright”, “clear”, “fresh”, and “beautiful”. Of course this is also related to the characters of Sissy and Rachel because they are the only characters who seem to be pure in thought and intention throughout the whole book. The landscape was described with a positive bias because nothing about the description of the land was upsetting or dreary. The narration describes it: “hedgerows were luxuriant; everything was at peace”.

This type of description alone holds true to the bias that the narrator has continuously throughout the whole plot. However, it takes a different approach by describing a place outside of Coketown as “bright” instead of describing the darkness of Coketown. The effect of this positive outlook at places that are different from Coketown is important at this point in the book. It has more effect towards the end of the book when the world of Coketown and the society that Mr. Gradgrind supports is falling apart rather than from the beginning of the book when the society is only being presented.

However, the effects of Coketown are still present even though most of the passage is positive. The land was still “blotted here and there with heaps of coal” which are representative of the bleariness of Coketown as well as its industrial nature. It was important for the narrator to compare Coketown to this “beautiful” place because it leads to the fall of Mr. Gradgrinds views when Stephen Blackpool is found.

HT: Analysis

“And he laid her down there, and saw the pride of his heart and triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet,” (p.212).

Analysis: Here, the narrator is describing how Louisa is appearing as she collapses in front of her father. The narrator acts as an observer, describing for the reader how pathetic Louisa looks. Whereas other characters are more harshly described (ie- calling Tom a whelp). At a point where Louisa is in distress as she curses her father for killing the imagination of her childhood and raising her on fact, the narrator seems to take pity by describing how she crumples with sympathy-provoking terms like ‘insensible heap’, having her represent the outcome of a human fed only fact. This pathetic, but not mocking, imagery indicates a sympathy of the narrator for Louisa.

HT: Analysis

“Her thoughtfulness baffled his cunning scrutiny. He could make nothing of her face. He pressed her in his arm, and kissed her cheek. She returned the kiss, but still looked at the fire.” (p. 95)

Analysis: The narrator is describing an encounter between Tom and Louisa. In this passage we see the drifting apart of the two siblings. The narrator starts each sentence with a pronoun, effectively taking any personal feelings away from the passage. Brothers and sisters refer to each other on a first name basis, granted they have a good relationship with each other. If the impersonal feelings aren’t convincing enough, the narrator explicitly states, “He could make nothing of her face.” The fact that while embracing each other yet not being able to recognize each other shows a clear disconnect in their relationship. The passage ends with her still looking into the “fire” which can be seen as her passionate side. She is looking at a man whose “fire” burned out, and her still face suggests that she is disappointed in him. Overall the narrator has shown the demise of the two siblings relationship through his impersonal passage.